USTAAI president to call for emergency meeting amid uproar vs Mocha’s award

The president of the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association Inc. (USTAAI) is set to call for an emergency meeting, probably this week, amid growing clamor for the organization to withdraw the recognition it gave to Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, USTAAI head Henry Tenedero said that he would have to discuss first with other officers and members of the organization whether to stay or recall Uson’s award.

“I cannot decide on my own. What I’m planning is to check on their schedule and I will convene an emergency meeting to invite also ‘yung mga nagfi-feedback sa social media,” Tenedero replied when asked if the USTAAI would heed the demand of different university organizations to rescind the award it gave to Uson.

Tenedero said that if he could only decide on his own, he just might yield to the outcry and take the award back.

But, he noted: “Ako’y presidente lamang. Pero kung ang issue nga ay ano, sige. I’m willing, go ahead.”

Tenedero explained that conferring the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service to was a “collective decision” and was “looked at the perspective that (she) is a UST graduate.”

Uson is an official at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) in charge of social media.

“We looked at the perspective na Mocha is a UST graduate,” Tenedero told INQUIRER.net. “We didn’t delve much on how she is as a person.”

“Walang botohan. As in the committee identified who would be invited,” Tenedero added.

And so the USTAAI added Uson in the final list of those who would be given an invite as early as December for the awarding ceremony that was to be held during the UST Grand Alumni Homecoming on January 21.

Tenedero recalled that they had sent out more than 40 invitations to various Thomasian alumni that are serving the government but only half of it responded to the call.

Earlier, the UST AAI said that its “sole criteria” for recipients of the recognition was that he/she must be a graduate of the university and serving the government.

READ: UST Alumni Association: Mocha Uson is an alumna, so she gets award

The UST AAI has been drawing flak from former and current students of the university, including the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters and Alliance of Concerned Thomasians Alumni Association (ACT-Now), which both have called on the USTAAI to withdraw Uson’s award.

READ: UST alumni press for recall of Uson’s award

/kga